


Fairy Dust

by IncendiaGlacies



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fae & Fairies, Gen, RipFic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22233382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncendiaGlacies/pseuds/IncendiaGlacies
Summary: “Rip, meet the fairy that’s been causing all your bad luck,” said Amaya.“I have a name,” the fairy said, “it’s Gideon.”
Relationships: Amaya Jiwe/Zari Tomaz, Gideon/Rip Hunter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	Fairy Dust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oasis_wasteland](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oasis_wasteland/gifts).



> From the list, I picked Fae, cake, Jonah Hex, Jonah Hex poster....all in varying moderation. I hope you enjoy!

**_“Do not think the fairies are always little. Everything is capricious about them, even their size…Their chief occupations are feasting, fighting, and making love, and playing the most beautiful music.” – William Butler Yeats_ **

Rip opened the door to the bakery and cursed as he tripped over the chair and skidded across the tiled floor. With a groan he picked himself up and dusted himself off, trying not to think about how much his back hurt. All in all, he’d had worse starts to the morning.

“Amazing form, really stuck the landing there. And the gold medal for best trip and slide goes to Rip Hunter, reigning klutz for the last two years, how does he do it?” Zari commentated sarcastically and clapped her hands.

Rip glared at her. “Shut up. And what was the chair even doing there in the first place?”

“I was cleaning.” She raised the mop in her hand. Well, that explained how he’d managed to slide so far across the floor.

Rip muttered some choice words under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Come on, we have to open in an hour. Gotta get this place up and running.”

“I’m not the one who was late.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“What was it this time?”

“Power outage in the middle of the night. Apparently, everything decided to reset itself, including my alarm clock. And there was no hot water this morning. I’m telling you Zari, the bad luck never ends.”

“Maybe you’re cursed.”

Rip rolled his eyes at her. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Zari raised her hands. “I know how it sounds, but I’ve been reading into Amaya’s books, they’re pretty interesting.”

“So, you believe in magic now, do you?”

“I believe you’ve been having bad luck for about six months now. Remember the car accident? Tripping down the stairs?”

“It’s coincidence.” An annoying, long string of coincidences. So far, the only part of his life not affected by mishaps was his baking. Apart from one burnt cake early on, all of his confectionary creations had worked. Which was good because right now he needed the business to pay his bills, especially if he was going to get a reliable power service.

As Zari finished cleaning the floor, Rip worked on making the cake batter for the day and prepping the frosting. The powdered sugar puffed up from the bag and coated him in a fine white powdered coating. Zari laughed at him and helped him clean up with a dish towel.

“Smooth,” she teased.

“Shut up.”

“So, you have tickets to the new Jonah Hex movie?”

“Front row seats to the midnight showing,” he said excitedly, eyes brightening already. “Got you and Amaya seats too.”

Zari shook her head. “You are such a fanboy.”

“He’s a good actor,” Rip defended himself.

“You have a shrine to him-”

“It’s not a shrine.”

“The poster, the fake revolver, the lasso. You’re always collecting memorabilia from his movies that’s going to be worthless in five years.”

Rip shrugged awkwardly. “They auction off pieces of the set. I should have another one coming in soon. The duster he wore in _The Magnificent Eight_ -”

“Are you serious? Is that what that package is?”

“It came? Where?” Rip’s eyes bugged out.

“It’s in the back. I didn’t know what it was so I-”

He already went off running, nearly tripping over his own feet again. Zari sighed and followed him.

“I didn’t think it’d come. It’s about two weeks late and I thought they got the wrong address-”

“They did. Why are you having things delivered to the bakery instead of your apartment?”

“It wouldn’t take my flat for some reason. You know the internet hates me half the time.” Most technology did.

“I swear Hunter, you have the bad luck curse.”

“Maybe. But this duster is going to make up for all of that. It’s going to-” Rip pulled out a bright pink jacket adorned with feathers. “This is not the duster.”

“You sure? It’s just your colour.”

Rip glared at her. “This isn’t what I won. I paid for it. This is – this is bollocks!”

“It’s the cuuuuurse!” Zari waved her fingers theatrically but even that wasn’t enough to raise his spirits.

“I am cursed,” he said miserably.

Zari sighed. Only losing out on Jonah Hex’s things would convince him he was cursed. The man was hopeless.

* * *

“You didn’t visit any tombs?”

“No, I haven’t even left the country,” Rip said tiredly. As if he’d risk flying with all the bad luck he’d been having.

“Have you tried four leaf clovers? Perhaps a lucky horseshoe?” Amaya asked.

Rip sighed. “Can’t find any. Believe me, I looked.” It had been after a day of one mishap after another. Burning his breakfast, walking in the rain with no umbrella, not paying his rent on time. “It’s always the little things.”

Amaya hummed and reached out her hands for his. Rip shot Zari a look, who urged him on, finally, he placed his hands in hers. Amaya closed her eyes, a frown marring her face.

“What? What’s wrong? I’m cursed, aren’t I?”

“No, not quite. But there is a presence around you. A trickster in your midst.”

“What does that mean?”

“We must separate the spirit from you.”

“I’m being possessed?” Rip’s eyes widened.

Amaya got up and pulled out a book of her magic spells. “It could be an imp, perhaps a leprechaun but you don’t have much money to begin with.”

“Thanks,” he said dryly.

“Oh, this looks promising.”

“What, what is it?”

“Zari, I’ll need your help in the garden. Rip, stay here and don’t touch anything.” Before the women left, Amaya sprinkled some sugar in a circle around Rip.

“Is this supposed to help ward off the bad spirits?”

“Something like that.”

Rip sighed loudly as they left him in wait. He wanted to put his feet up but the last time he’d done that he’d fallen right over. Amaya had been very clear not to touch anything so that probably meant he couldn’t get up and move. He was, in layman’s terms, very bored. Finally, after what felt like forever but was really probably only twenty minutes, the women returned.

“Come on,” Zari said, holding out her hand for his. Rip took it and she led him outside where Amaya had laid down iron pickets in a circle.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Rip, come stand in the center with me,” Amaya called.

Nervously, Rip did as she asked and took her outstretched hands. Around them, blue and white lightning zipped between the iron. He flinched at every crackle but Amaya didn’t release him.

“Is it supposed to be doing that?”

“We need to separate the spirit from you,” Amaya said with great concentration. Her jaw was clenched, brow furrowed.

Rip heard a scream and a thump as the lightning died down. He coughed as the dust and dirt abated and looked down at a woman crumpled on the ground. She huffed and sat up, brushing aside her brown hair and glaring up at them. Rip had to take a step back from the beauty and intensity of her grey eyes.

“Now that was just rude!” she hissed at them.

Rip’s jaw fell open as he stared at her, noticing something even stranger. Wings. She had wings. Like a dragonfly but more colourful, like clouds in a sunset.

“What…”

“Rip, meet the fairy that’s been causing all your bad luck,” said Amaya.

“I have a name,” the fairy said, “it’s Gideon.”

* * *

“I thought humans were supposed to be nice?” Gideon whined. “This is cruel! Just cruel!”

Rip rubbed his temples, trying to stop the oncoming headache. The fairy had done nothing but complain since he’d found her and brought her home. “Please stop your whining.”

“Release me.”

“No.” Rip crossed the room, took a seat on the couch next to her and tapped the iron bracelet. “This doesn’t come off until we have an understanding.”

“And what’s that?” she asked innocently.

He grinded his teeth. As if she hadn’t understood him just fine the first five times he’d asked her to leave him alone. “Stop causing bad luck for me!”

“Bad luck? I don’t cause bad luck. I just have a little fun, that’s all.”

“Fun at my expense. It’s all you, isn’t it? The trips, the falls, the power going out, my internet not cooperating.”

Gideon giggled, it sounded like bells. “Oh, that was fun! Remember when you tumbled down the stairs and landed in a heap? Such fun!”

Deranged. The fairy was clearly deranged. Rip glared at her. “It’s not fun for me. I would like it if the internet works, if the power stays on.”

“Electricity is such a new age design. All magical beings have problems with it. Not just fairies. Maybe there’s an imp lurking at your doorstep? Did you even think to check? No, you just want to blame it on the poor, innocent fairy?”

Her eyes got big, her lips trembled. Rip could feel his heart pounding, feel himself getting swayed into seeing it from her point of view. He shook his head and looked away, trying to break whatever spell she had put on him. “I suppose next you’ll say you had nothing to do with my car accident either.”

“I didn’t.” Gideon’s eyes darkened. “I just like to have a little fun. Just a little, not a lot. Cars are a lot.”

Rip snorted. “I’m sure.”

“It’s true! It wasn’t me. It was Lady Luck.”

Rip eyed her for a few more minutes and went back to his computer to get some more work done. Gideon inched closer to him until she was right next to him, peering over his shoulder.

When she didn’t move away, he huffed. “Is there something I can help you with?” It had only been two weeks and she’d been driving him mad. The only good thing about her entrapment was his bad luck had significantly decreased, but he couldn’t hold a fairy hostage forever.

“Who’s the man on your computer? He’s on your wall as well. Is he your lover?”

Rip flushed a deep pink. “He’s not that. He’s an actor. I just – I respect him a lot. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m trying to track down the duster that now belongs to me. Any idea where it might have gone?”

Gideon looked around innocently, humming a little tune. Rip shook his head at her. He knew it was her fault, whatever she’d done had caused him to miss out on Jonah Hex’s prized possession.

“Do you have any sugar?” Gideon asked suddenly.

“What?” Rip blinked at him.

“Sugar. I need to eat.”

“I feed you all the time.”

“You give me bread. I am a fairy. I need sugar, or I’ll wither away. Look at my wings. Look at how droopy they are!” Her wings fluttered and Rip took a look at them, silently acknowledging that they were a little duller than usual.

“You eat sugar?”

“Oh yes! Scrumptious sugar! The best invention in humanity was chocolate. Followed by cake, sweet breads, pastries. Mmm!” Gideon’s wings fluttered at the thought of all the sugary treats she could have.

“I – I might have some cake?”

“Chocolate cake?”

Rip nodded. “Stay here.” He walked into the kitchen as Gideon curled up on the couch and followed him with her eyes. Minutes later he returned with chocolate cake and a glass of milk. “Here.”

“Oh goodie!” Gideon devoured the cake in seconds, her wings regaining a little of their colour. “Baking was an excellent profession for you to go into.”

Rip hummed and then paused. “You never bothered me in my bakery, did you?”

“And mess up delicious sweets? Never! I would eat them at night. Excellent food source.”

Rip frowned, remembering how sometimes he would notice a pastry or a brownie missing. He’d never thought much of it, simply thinking he’d miscounted earlier. Apparently, it had been Gideon. Every part of his life had been touched by the fairy.

Gideon fluttered her wings happily as she drank her milk. As she did, golden dust fell onto Rip, getting all over his clothes and in his hair.

“Hey!” He tried to brush off the dust but it wouldn’t come out entirely. “You did that on purpose!”

“Not at all. It was an accident.” She gave him a strange look.

Rip shook his head, grumbling about annoying fairies as he left her alone on the couch again. Hopefully, she’d agree to leave him alone soon.

* * *

In the coming weeks, Rip could easily say that his luck had changed, quite literally from bad to good. At first, he’d thought it was simply because he’d imprisoned the fairy, there would be no Gideon to mess with his daily activities and so he’d live a normal life. But then even better things started happening to him, more than the norm.

He’d won Jonah Hex’s duster and it came in mint condition and the movie producers had thrown in the cowboy hat for the mix up as well. It might not have been much but to Rip it felt like he’d won the lottery. His electric company had credited him for three months after he’d finally gotten on the phone with them. His bakery was getting good reviews and even more people were coming in. All in all, yes, it was good luck.

Rip opened the door and took off his jacket and bag. He found Gideon exactly where he’d left her in the morning, on the couch, staring at the window. Her wings were lowered and she had a sad longing look on her face. For a moment, Rip felt a twinge of guilt in his heart. He’d been keeping her prisoner. He cleared his throat and she looked up at him, a genuine smile on her face. He couldn’t help but smile back, his heart skipping a beat for a moment.

“How was your day?” she asked.

“Good,” he said with some surprise. “I suppose it’s because you’re not there to mess it up?” he teased. “Oh wait, I have something for you.” He reached into his bag and pulled out something all wrapped in paper. “Open it.”

Her lips ticked upward and she greedily tore open the paper. “Oh! Sweets!”

“Chocolate chip brownies with cream cheese swirls and coconut flakes. It was surprisingly a big hit, just like you’d said.”

“Fairies are always right when it comes to matters of sweets.”

Rip smiled as he watched her eat. He felt more at ease with her these days now that they weren’t constantly at each other’s throats. As she ate her wings fluttered again. Curiously, he reached out and touched the wing closest to him. She stopped immediately, snapping her wings close to her.

“I – I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“You didn’t ask!” she chastised him. She reached out and grabbed his hand, glaring when she saw golden dust on his fingers.

Rip looked down at it as well. “This dust, it’s from you?”

“Yes,” she said with a marked note of irritation.

He looked down at the dust and back up at her, slowly, the pieces were coming together. “This dust, it’s all over the place.” At first, he hadn’t noticed it but over the past few weeks he’d had to clean more and more, finding golden dust on the floors in his clothes. He’d never quite been able to rid the place of it.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“It’s magic dust?”

She smiled softly. “Yes. It can be good or bad. Used for mischief or help. Just depends on how the fairy is feeling.”

“So, all my good days…it wasn’t just because you’ve been locked up, it’s still your magic.”

She nodded once, crossing her arms stubbornly. “Though, it’s more watered down.” She raised the wrist with the iron bracelet. “Can’t do much with this on.”

“Is that why it’s helping rather than hindering? Because of the iron?”

Gideon laughed like silver bells. “No.” She shook her head. “That part is quite unintentional.” Slowly, she reached out and touched his cheek. “Fairy dust changes as a fairy’s emotions change. Before, it was all fun and games, a good little mischief. Now, well, you’ve endeared yourself to me.”

Rip swallowed, unable to admit that she’d rather endeared herself to him as well. “If I let you go, I’ll never see you again,” he whispered. It made him sadder than he expected. At what point had he come to like the impish fairy so much?

“No, I imagine you won’t.” She opened up her wings, inviting him to touch them again.

His hands moved slowly, waiting for her to change her mind again, fickle as she was. Her wings were soft, delicate, he felt he might break them if he pressed too hard.

“Please let me go?” she whispered.

It was the sincerity in her voice that broke his heart. She didn’t want to be here, in fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if he’d scared her off from him forever. “I’ll miss you,” he croaked.

Gideon smiled. “Keep out a bowl of sugar water for me. Other sweets too, and I’ll come visit. Maybe we’ll have some fun.”

There was a sparkle in her eye that simultaneously scared and excited Rip. “Not too much fun,” he ordered, already knowing it was a lost cause. If Gideon wanted to pull pranks on him, there was nothing he could do to stop her.

His fingers undid the clasp of the iron bracelet and her wings beat fast like a hummingbird. For a second, Rip was terrified he’d been tricked, she’d changed his feelings, seduced him, all to garner escape and now she’d take her revenge. But then she did something he never expected – as he’d come to learn, he could never expect anything she did – and she kissed him. Lips pressed against his for the briefest of seconds before she pulled back again.

“Lots of fun.” Her eyes sparkled before she began to shine golden. The light overtook her form and it began to shrink, smaller and smaller until she was the size of a firefly and escaping through the open balcony.

Rip sat dumbly, realizing he was covered in golden fairy dust, she had left a trail from him all over his apartment. Laughing softly and trying to ignore the sadness in his stomach, he set about trying to clean up the mess Gideon had made yet again.

* * *

Rip walked into the bakery and narrowly missed tripping over the chair. In celebrating his victory, he completely missed the ‘wet floor’ sign and slipped on the tiled floor.

“Ow,” he groaned. Slowly, he sat up, massaging his head. He imagined Gideon laughing at him, enjoying her little prank.

“Tripped again?” Zari asked, crossing her arms.

Rip nodded. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know what kind of deal you worked out with that fairy but I can’t tell if your luck is worse or better.”

In fact, neither could Rip. His life felt even more like a rollercoaster of ups and downs for the past month since he’d last seen Gideon. Every night he left out sugar water and a treat for her. Every morning he woke up to find it gone and his home filled with fairy dust. Yet, almost every day something went wrong for him. It was little things, like burnt toast, tripping over his untied shoelaces, being late to work, bad traffic.

Yet now, all the bad luck only made Rip smile. It meant Gideon was still close, still watching over him. Whatever the deal was, it worked well enough for Rip.

He went about his day and mixed and measured and baked. He served his customers and closed up, grateful for another accident free day. Well, for the most part. He said goodbye to Zari and closed up shop. All in all, it was another good day. Rip hummed a tune he remembered hearing from Gideon, not noticing the small light flying and fluttering about him, like a little firefly, showering him with golden dust the entire walk home.


End file.
